Voices of Us

New book out December 1

After what was a pretty gruelling period of writing, editing and fine tuning, of working with the publisher on a very tight deadline so we could have the book in shops this side of Christmas, I am happy to report…mission accomplished.

Voices of Us: The independents’ movement transforming Australian democracy is at the printers, and is, in fact, available for pre-order. It is well and truly on track for an official release date of December 1, though you may see it on some shop shelves a little earlier than that.

As promised, subscribers to this newsletter now have first access, and you can pre-order at a discount of 27% through Booktopia. Hopefully we can shift a bunch of copies and get the independent writing you support by subscribing here before as many eyes as possible. As ever, I am reliant on you guys spreading the word, and the more pre-orders we get, the more promotion the book will receive.

To help with promotion, here will be a number of events in different cities, at bookshops and writers’ festivals and the like, and they will run well into next year. I will update you as those dates firm up.

The book offers an insight into, not just the rise of the independents, but into our politics more generally, the way in which power works and how we-the-people are so often left behind by a political class—which includes the media—more interested in their own agendas than the welfare of the nation. The emergence of community independents—especially in the form they have taken since Voice4Indi launched and elected Cathy McGowan—is a distinctly Australian phenomenon and I think we should take great heart from it. Australia has a long history of democratic reform and innovation and this is the latest manifestation. Of course, more improvements are needed, and one of themes of the book is about making sure we capitalise on this moment and not let the status quo push us back into the old politics represented by the two-party system.

For further insight into what the book is about, I am publishing the full Introduction here today, though for obvious reasons I have to keep it behind the paywall for now. I am also including the table of contents to give you an idea of the way the book is put together and the territory it covers. Enjoy, and feel free to send your thoughts.

As ever, thanks for your support!

And remember, you can now pre-order the book with a 27% discount through Booktopia.